THE PRICE OF TRUE LOVE

They say you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. And according to a new survey, there is actually some truth in the fairytale phrase.

Research shows that the average woman will date 24 different men, and spend more than £2,000 before finding 'Mr Right'.

The average date costs a woman £85.38, taking into account the money spent on money spent on hair, new clothes, travel and drinks.

This includes £2.48 on fake tan, £2.55 on a new outfit and £12.86 on their hair.

And despite most women preferring chivalrous men with manners, it seems most women like to go Dutch on a date, splitting the bill to spend £12.20 on food, £9.60 on drinks and £7.64 on entertainment.

Over the average 24 dates, a woman will spend over £2,049.12.

A spokesman for UKDating.com, which polled 2,173 of its members, said: 'Although you cannot put the price on true love, it seems you can certainly put a price on finding it.

'While men are still traditionally footing the bill of the date on the night, this shows how much women are prepared to pay behind the scenes to make each date successful.

'This shows that even in these credit crunch times, women are prepared to invest a significant amount of money to bag their perfect man.'

The study found that seven per cent of women have been on between 41 and 60 dates before finding someone to share their life with.

And one per cent women said they had been on between 61 and 80 dates before finding someone suitable.

The UKDating spokesman added: 'Men traditionally don't expect gifts, but this new trend for women to bring a gift certainly wins points with their date.'

The research also revealed that despite the amount spent on each date, a third of women have left halfway through after realising they had met with 'Mr Wrong'.

One in four women will meet a man just once before deciding whether or not he is 'the one'.
Thirty-five per cent will give a man two dates, and 16 per cent make their decision after three dates.

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